The Extraordinary Journey of the Dragon
Revisit a family album to find connections that are personal, subjective, national, and international. For all these reasons, this film offers a glimpse into the contribution of our documentary filmmakers, who consistently represent the national industry with their excellent work.
- Sergio Monsalve, Independent Film Critic
The film exudes a beautiful warmth that captivates with its intimate yet expansive tone. Very well crafted. A new documentary that speaks volumes about Venezuelan cinema.
—Alfonso Molina, Critic, Ideas de Babel
It's a story about migration, about the Japanese in America and Venezuela, but also about the filmmaker's own story. It's also a wonderful exercise in making use of heritage—in this case, family photographs—and highlighting the importance of preserving and conserving the visual memory of the world, of a country, a town, or a family.
—Vladimir Sosa Sarabia, President, National Cinemateque Foundation of Venezuela
Revisit a family album to find connections that are personal, subjective, national, and international. For all these reasons, this film offers a glimpse into the contribution of our documentary filmmakers, who consistently represent the national industry with their excellent work.
- Sergio Monsalve, Independent Film Critic
The film exudes a beautiful warmth that captivates with its intimate yet expansive tone. Very well crafted. A new documentary that speaks volumes about Venezuelan cinema.
—Alfonso Molina, Critic, Ideas de Babel
It's a story about migration, about the Japanese in America and Venezuela, but also about the filmmaker's own story. It's also a wonderful exercise in making use of heritage—in this case, family photographs—and highlighting the importance of preserving and conserving the visual memory of the world, of a country, a town, or a family.
—Vladimir Sosa Sarabia, President, National Cinemateque Foundation of Venezuela
Director: Kaori Flores Yonekura
SYNOPSIS: A filmmaker discovers a treasure: her great-uncle Yoshitomi documented his life from 1933 to 1945, from his time as a young soldier in Japan to his migration to Peru and his time as a prisoner of war in Venezuela during World War II. Through these images, the figure of the Dragon emerges, a chimera who, like all migrants, adapts and transforms according to the territories he conquers, merging memory, myth, and reality.
Producers: Nuevo Objetivo Film, CNAC, Eva Equipments. With the support of CNAC.
Running Time: 84 min
Country of Production: Venezuela
Shooting Locations: Japan, Peru, Venezuela
Production Date: March 1, 2025
Type: Documentary
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Historical, Human Rights, Road Movie
Recommended Age: PG-13
Language: Spanish / Subtitles: English
Themes: Emigration/Immigration, Identity, Human Rights, Photography, Ancient Mythology, Ancestry
Director's Letter
The Extraordinary Journey of the Dragon is a fantastical historical drama born in the midst of the pandemic, a challenge that transformed into a profoundly luminous and conciliatory film for my country, which today has many of its sons and daughters scattered around the world.
The film is built upon the photographic treasure of my great-uncle, Yoshitomi Furuya, who documented his life from 1933 to 1945, beginning as a young soldier at the foot of Mount Fuji in Japan, continuing through his emigration to Peru, and finally his imprisonment as a prisoner of war in a village deep in the heart of Venezuela during World War II.
As this story unfolds, the metaphor of the Dragon emerges. This chimera is the central idea in the construction of the migrant's identity, merging myth with the reality of resilience and the capacity for adaptation of human beings who take on characteristics of the territory they traverse.
This film is one of the few Ibero-American films to address the complex history of Asian roots and the Asian diaspora in the region, marking a unique foray by Japan and Ibero-America into the Goya Awards.
Thus, The Extraordinary Journey of the Dragon transcends borders and vulnerabilities to become a mirror of humanity. It is an ode to inner strength, to the capacity to flourish in any land, and to the eternal yearning to find a place to finally call home.
I hope you will see our film and consider it.
Kaori Flores Yonekura
